


Not The Same

by flightinflame



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Awkward Newt Scamander, Bullying, Duelling, Gen, MACUSA | Magical Congress of the United States of America, newt needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 08:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10693281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: Everyone saw Newt defeat Grindelwald.  So its no surprise that they want him to duel on their team in the MACUSA competition.  Newt however, is less keen.





	Not The Same

**Author's Note:**

> Based on http://fantasticbeasts-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1184.html?thread=2191008#cmt2191008

Newt climbed out of his suitcase, which he had left on the desk he was borrowing in the auror office, to be faced with more than the normal buzz of excitement. Tina was grinning brightly from the next desk over, and Director Graves nodded smartly at his direction. He got the feeling that a conversation had been happening while he was absent. He just didn't know what the conversation had been about.  
"Fine." The Director said after a moment. "You can ask him. But if he says no, then leave the poor man alone." For a moment it looked like the other aurors would protest, but then they nodded. In a way he supposed it should be comforting to know his views were seen as important. But with no idea of what it was he was about to be asked, he couldn't help feeling his heart racing slightly.

"What is it?"  
"There's a duelling competition." Tina said quickly. "And since you're currently consulting for the aurors we thought that you would be on our team."

Newt remembered Hogwarts, the smirking faces of the pureblood boys as they proceeded to knock him to the floor once again, hexes dancing across his skin until he gathered the strength to apparate away. He remembered his teacher's smirk as he sent stinging curses at Newt as punishment for not even trying. Of Theseus standing with medals and trophies, and telling Newt that he was doing okay, Newt knowing that it was a lie.  
"I'm no good at duelling." He mumbled, and some of the aurors closest to them laughed. Tina frowned.  
"Newt. You singlehandedly defeated Grindelwald. If you don't want to be on our team, that's fine. But we've all seen what you're capable of."

Newt smiled nervously, not wanting to be rude and refuse when they had tried to be helpful, but also not wanting to have to face that smart blue carpet. He could see his instructor's face, a look of total disgust as Newt stumbled over his own feet, tripping as he bowed.  
"Can... Can I give it some thought?" He asked after a moment. "I'll be alright. I just need some time to decide if I want to participate." 

The aurors nodded, and Newt pretended that he couldn't see how disappointed they were. He felt like a traitor. Director Graves flashed him a smile.  
"I remember when Theseus and I duelled during the war." He nodded. "You would be a great benefit to the team. But it's your choice."  
"Thank you sir." Newt mumbled, ducking his head down to the floor. "I... I needed to go and...and get some water." He almost ran out of the room before he remembered he could have simply _aguamenti_ ed hmself some water. He could hear his brother's laughter at that moment, the fond way he had smiled, had squeezed Newt's shoulder.  
_"It's okay Newt. You're good at different things. I'll do the duelling for both of us, and you can handle everything else. How does that sound?"_  
Newt had agreed, and life had been simpler then. He had written to his parents explaining that he wanted to leave duelling club, and that he would be helping care for the thestrals and various other creatures. He learned there, and didn't bother knowing any more duelling. There had been a few times that duelling had been compulsory, the boys in his class delighted that they had an opportunity to hurt him with the school's blessing, but mostly he had been able to avoid it. At times other than official duels, Newt could always apparate out of harm’s way. Official rules meant that apparating was banned.

He shook his head and tried to focus, then made his way to the cafe, only to see Sam standing there, using his magic to pour a cup of coffee. One of the best of MACUSA's obliviators, he had been helping Newt develop cover stories that could be used for a range of creature attacks.  
"Scamander!" Sam greeted him with a broad grin, holding out a broad hand to shake. "Just the man I had wanted to see?"  
"Oh?" Newt tilted. "Did you manage to work out a solution to the murtlap question?"  
"No. I have no idea how we can even begin to pass that off as something else." Sam admitted with a shrug. "But that wasn't what I wanted to see you for. I wanted to talk to you about this competition that's going to be happening in the next week or so, I don't know if you've heard about it?"  
Newt's heart sunk a little, but he nodded.  
"You mean the duelling competition."  
"I do." Sam agreed. "I mean, I understand if the aurors have already poached you, but they're all already trained for this. Really, you would be much better off helping a group that's disadvantaged. The obliviators would be more than happy to have you on side if you're looking for a team that's got a good chance of winning and doesn't do this kind of thing all the time."

"I... I'm sorry." Newt murmured.  
"No worries." Sam handed Newt a cup of coffee, pouring himself a second. "I guessed that they'd probably already got you. But if you change your mind and want to shake things up a bit-"  
"I'll keep you in mind." Newt replied, quickly transforming his coffee into rather more palatable tea. Everyone on MACUSA appeared to run on particularly strong coffee, and he had no idea how they managed to drink it without feeling sick. 

On his way back to his temporary office, he was waylaid by Rosie, by a secretary, by one of the witches who was working on Sasquatch protection, and by the President herself. It was quite clear to him that there was going to be no way that he could get out of this. He was going to be expected to duel. He sipped his tea and took a seat at his desk, considering his options. After a moment he sighed, lifting his head and looking up at the rest of the aurors.  
"I've decided I'd like to duel with the rest of you. If you've got space on the team." 

His reasons for the decision were simple enough - the aurors were likely to be doing well regardless, and so it was unlikely that he could bring down their score enough to ruin their entry, and they were the group he was closest to. He could only hope that he wouldn't be losing their respect when they saw how much he struggled with duelling. There was cheering and whooping in celebration, and he sat down with his notes in front of him. He tried to put thoughts of the upcoming duel out of his mind. There would be time for worrying later. For now, his focus was going to be on getting on with his notes and doing whatever he could to distract himself.

***

On the day of the duel, the whole of MACUSA's staff gathered together in the central atrium. A ripple of excitement was passing through the crowd. Newt had been placed as the second dueller on the auror team, and that meant his first match was just before lunch. He tried to focus on watching the others compete, but it just became clear to him that he was going to be at a huge disadvantage, outclassed in every imaginable respect.

The competition began with several of the weaker teams, engaging in healthy interdepartmental competition. The receptionist girls were managing a surprisingly skilled showing given everything, and Newt found himself cheering them on, temporarily forgetting about his own fate. Queenie was exceptional - though not a talented duellist as such, being able to read the mind of your opponent had certain advantages. He watched her compete, whooping and hollering in celebration.

Worse was when Percival took the stand. He strode out onto the carpet with confidence, bowing smartly and then standing straight, his wand held out before him. His opponent, one of the healers, looked a little nervous. The referee called for the fight to begin, and a flurry of spells were fired off by the healer.

Percival deflected them easily, with a flick of his wrist. He brought his own wand up to cast a barrier, and then aimed at the other man's legs. The healer jumped out of the way of the curse, and Percival countered it with another hex, sending him spinning through the air. The aurors were whooping and cheering, the noise too loud for where they were, and Percival set off a shower of sparks flying after the man.

A blue light emerged, and Newt shuddered as memories of Grindelwald's attack threatened to overwhelm him. He knew that Percival wouldn't be using any hex like that, wouldn't be aiming to injure, but it was still a concern, leaving his insides feeling twisted with sickness. The wand flew from his opponent's hand, and the cheering reached a crescendo. Percival bowed again, handing the wand back to the healer, and the two of them took their seats.

Newt continued to watch the fights, his head down as he focused on what was done. He remembered the bowing, the way that they were expected to show proper form. Some of the steps were different in MACUSA than the ones he had learned at Hogwarts, but there were similarities enough for him to use what he had learned.

Finally, it was his time to take to the thin blue carpet. Tina hugged him and grinned.  
"You can do it Newt."

He could feel every eye upon him as he made his way up the steps that led to the duelling carpet. He turned to look at his opponent. Marcus, one of the younger obliviators. He was only too aware of the rivalry there. He couldn't expect Marcus to pull his punches or show him anything approaching mercy.

This was just a friendly duel. He tried to remind himself of that as he reached the carpet, stumbling a little as he made his way over to the appropriate spot. A moment later he remembered he was meant to bow first. He walked to the middle, and bowed his head, then spun half a turn and returned to his spot on the carpet.  
"Newt?" There was a concerned voice calling out from the crowd, and he looked down to see Queenie looking up at him. "You don't need to do this."

Newt smiled nervously, but shook his head, and spun to face his opponent. His heart was hammering in his chest so hard that he felt he was going to be sick, but there was nothing he could do about it, no way that he could stop it now. He tried to remind himself to keep his feet on their spot on the carpet, even as every instinct he had screamed at him to apparate away, or at least dive to the side. Marcus flicked a spell towards him, a simple action aimed to disarm. Newt shielded himself, and in doing so moved too far from the side, and only a quick flick of Tina's wand stopped him from falling face first onto the ground. He regained his balance, and tried to send another spell, and another, trying to remember the rhythm of it. 

If he was just on his own, this would be easier. But the aurors were counting on him, and everyone here knew that he was the man who had defeated Grindelwald. They expected him to win this fight. 

The carpet at his feet seemed to twist and he collapsed to his knees, his wand still held out in front of him. Marcus summoned it to his hand, and then walked towards him to hand it back. 

Newt's hands were trembling too badly to pick up the wand when it was held out to him, and he swallowed nervously, tension building inside of him. After all the other fights there had been cheering and laughter. Now there was just a disappointed silence. He had let down his friends.  
"Sorry." He murmured, his voice echoing strangely in the room. "I don't... I'm not good at duelling." He wrapped his arms around himself, and let Marcus help him back to his feet. 

"But you-with Grindelwald?" Marcus prompted, and Newt shrugged.  
"That was different..."

Marcus led him down the steps, and the next fight began. But eyes were still watching Newt, as though he had somehow humiliated the aurors, as though he was a disgrace. He fought back his desire to sob, reminding himself that he was still in public here. That he was still expected to represent his house, his school and his team.

He felt the aurors swarming around him, checking him over for any injuries, their gazes all looking at him in concern. They were acting like they were worried. He managed to force himself to smile, then saw out of the corner of his eye that Tina had pushed Marcus against the wall, her wand at his throat. He shook his head.  
"Tina. He didn't do anything!" He tried to protest, but Tina glared. Marcus listed off the spells he had used. Nothing that should have posed a problem. Newt cringed, his shoulders rising to bracket his face, as he stared down at the floor. He didn't want to face their disgust, to be seen as an embarrassment or a failure. Not by the aurors, not by his friends.

It was Percival who approached, putting a hand gently on Newt's shoulder.  
"Newt?" He asked softly. "What happened up there?"  
"I told you." Newt mumbled, suddenly resentful. "I can't duel..."

Percival's arms wrapped around him in an embrace. He held him close, and Newt felt his fears fading a little - Percival wasn't angry with him, wasn't rejecting him. The aurors were concerned, not disappointed in him.  
"We all saw you fight Grindelwald." One of the aurors said, and Newt cringed.

"And you took down that man last week who had a wand at a No-Maj's throat."

"I can fight." Newt tried to explain what he meant. "But I can't duel. Never have been able to, never will be able to."  
"It's just the same thing." One of the aurors pointed out, and Newt felt himself blush with shame. He was a failure and a disappointment then.

"Of course it's not the same." Percival snapped, shaking his head. "What a stupid idea. I mean, all of you-" He gestured at the surrounding aurors. "All of you are regularly in fights. Now, can anyone tell me, when was the last time you bowed before arresting a criminal."

Newt felt the tension and sickness in his throat ease slightly. Maybe this would be alright.


End file.
